What are you eating?

[DavidRoss]

David - looks GREAT! Susan makes some good soups (w/ a Jewish influence) - one of her best is Chicken Matzo Ball Soup - sorry, don't have a pic (will do next time!) - the main trick is to get the matzo balls right (made from scratch), i.e. BIG, FLUFFY, and MOIST - she auctions off 2 pots at our annual Unitarian Fellowship fund raiser and always brings in some nice $$ donations - Dave

Now that I no longer ski, Dave, the best thing about winter is SOUP!

[classicalgeek]

Thanks.  DO you make the paste yourself?

I have in the past - it's not too hard - but my current batch of paste is store-bought from a local market with a huge Asian section.  We switch between red, green, and panang curries - all excellent!

[PaulR]

I had Red quinoa stuffed bell peppers for dinner.  Was delicious, although the prep was extremely messy.

[Brian]

Operation Bacon Makin in progress!

Pic 1: all the stuff I need for Bacon Makin, including Ruhlman's Twenty, from whence the recipe
Pic 2: the cure - kosher salt, ground black pepper, ground red pepper, a little cayenne (my idea - come on, Ruhlman, everything's better with cayenne!), bay leaves, sodium nitrite (an antimicrobial agent which also gives bacon its red color)
Pic 3: into the 2.5-gal Hefty bag with some smashed garlic cloves! Note that I cut off about an inch of pure fat from one of the slabs. Fat makes bacon fun, but one of the ends had literally no meat in it, so I did some trimming

[jlaurson]

I've had -- and still have -- a phase of diving into chard...

Especially chard blanched (stems and leaves separately; the former cooked for a little while, until soft) and then tossed with mustard butter (green-tea--garlic--mustard butter, to be precise, for a superb green color (hardly noticeable when melted, though) and a wham of extra umame).

In this cased making up the bedding for slices of brined shoulder of beef, slow roasted in the oven for four hours... with shavings of garlic and sugar-boiled ginger.



Also been doing a lot of work with tripe... but I have no pictures... and perhaps that's better that way.

[SonicMan46]

BOY, I've not been very active on this thread for a while - but, Susan & I are still eating well! 

Tomorrow, we are driving to Durham to see a concert (Jane Monheit & Mark O'Connor), so we did some 'take out' food from our local NC barbecue place just down the road about 10 minutes from home - we do coarse chopped pork shoulder & I like the regular cole slaw; place is called Little Richards which is typical Lexington style, i.e. long smoked w/ a slight vinegar flavor - melts in your mouth!

Bob Garner in an update of his book on NC Barbecue put this place in the top 10 in NC - pretty special; so if you're traveling through the state and are in the Piedmont, then a stop here or in Lexington would be a recommendation, if you want to try this local specialty - pics below show the meal that I had (w/ the cole slaw & some Pinot Noir), pics of the restaurant & book, & a short quote from the book describing the pork - 

   

   

[Gold Knight]

An egg-plant parmigiana hero on garlic bread with a few fries on the side.

[jlaurson]

Not particularly suitable for pictures, the way I threw it in a big bowl... but the taste is all there:

Chick-Pea & Brussels Sprouts Purée

When I make Brussels Sprouts and feel half way fancy, I peel them leaf-by-leaf... which means just a very short cooking time (really more blanching) and every leaf equally well done, rather than hard cores and soft exteriors.

That includes de-coring the B'sprouts for which an apple-de-corer works perfectly. But the cores can't be tossed, so I collect them and turn them into purée -- usually, because the quantity isn't sufficient, mixed with other purée veggies. This time I went with chick peas, instead, and then added the left-over leafed b'sprouts. Chilli, mustard, olive oil, pinch of pepper and voila.

For better looking results, a hint of Matcha powder in the purée will give it a great green, B'sprouty color that the cores on their own can't produce.

[Sergeant Rock]

Last night, and for the fourth time in two weeks, Mrs. Rock made penne all'arrabbiata (roughly translated as Pissed Off Pasta  )  We've become addicted to this simple but delicious, and fiery, dish. Since I need meat every day, Mrs. Rock also sautés a chicken breast that has been marinated in sambal oelek, honey, Pomegranate syrup (non-sweet, Turkish style) salt and pepper, and serves with a dollop of joghurt (helps cut the heat). Left click to enlarge pic.




Sarge

[mc ukrneal]

Last night, and for the fourth time in two weeks, Mrs. Rock made penne all’arrabbiata (roughly translated as Pissed Off Pasta  )  We've become addicted to this simple but delicious, and fiery, dish. Since I need meat every day, Mrs. Rock also sautés a chicken breast that has been marinated in sambal oelek, honey, Pomegranate syrup (non-sweet, Turkish style) salt and pepper, and serves with a dollop of joghurt (helps cut the heat). Left click to enlarge pic.




Sarge

Stamps foot. Shifts weight from one foot to the other and back. Ahem.....Excuse me.... Well? What is the wine!?  

What do you use to make the pasta fiery?

[Sergeant Rock]

BOY, I've not been very active on this thread for a while - but, Susan & I are still eating well! 
 

Looks great, Dave One thing I really miss about the States is barbecue. And yeah, even in Ohio there are a few decent barbecue joints 

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Stamps foot. Shifts weight from one foot to the other and back. Ahem.....Excuse me.... Well? What is the wine!?  

What do you use to make the pasta fiery?

Chilies and garlic. The wine was a 2009 Chianti Classico. I pulled the empty bottle out of the trash, just for you 




Sarge

[Karl Henning]

[ cucumber gin seen in background ]

[Sergeant Rock]

[ cucumber gin seen in background ]

Indeed    And a magnum of 2010 Bordeaux, a birthday present from our local wine merchant.

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

It is mentioned (and illustrated) in this volume (I need to re-check, in order to furnish detail) . . . .

[asin]1861899246[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

. . . Victorian men and women, often in mildly provocative situations with cucumbers.

[Sergeant Rock]

. . . Victorian men and women, often in mildly provocative situations with cucumbers.

[mc ukrneal]

Chilies and garlic. The wine was a 2009 Chianti Classico. I pulled the empty bottle out of the trash, just for you 




Sarge

Aw geee...blushes. That is a nice, consistant wine.

[Brian]

Sarge, it occurs to me that I should ask you this. A certain friend and I are planning on cooking together this Valentine's Day, and we want to plan our food around the wines we have. To wit: two bottles of sangiovese (but one's a Cali blend), plus an '09 California pinot noir and a malbec. There's something very fine and French but I forget what it is at the moment - could tell you when I get home from work. There was also a very smooth, clean sauv blanc from New Zealand, but I got impatient and drank it. 

Anyway, are you inspired to suggest a pairing?

[jlaurson]

Sarge, it occurs to me that I should ask you this. A certain friend and I are planning on cooking together this Valentine's Day, and we want to plan our food around the wines we have. To wit: two bottles of sangiovese (but one's a Cali blend), plus an '09 California pinot noir and a malbec. There's something very fine and French but I forget what it is at the moment - could tell you when I get home from work. There was also a very smooth, clean sauv blanc from New Zealand, but I got impatient and drank it. 

Anyway, are you inspired to suggest a pairing?

If you drink all that, it won't really matter what you eat. Bit hard, also, to judge from the above information, what might go with what... an honest, quaffable, simple ('over and done with') Sangiovese (what kind exactly? most commonly blended, anyway...) goes with hardy foods (pulses, pastas, sausages, stews). A Californian Pinot Noir, if it is a good one (which in the case of Californian wines, sadly, almost always correlates with "fairly expensive") on the other hand might like to see something leaner in taste, with fewer and more individual flavor... a clever roast chicken orsimple rabbit in mustard, or a thin hanger steak with fries and mustard butter or better yet: horse steak (can you get that down there?) with green beans with caramelized onions and garlic (not too much, for once) and a dollop plum jam. Well... no, not that... it's not green bean season and you don't want those half moldy, skimpy little things from godknowswhere that you sometimes find in supermarkets. Malbec, although they're not what they used to be (i.e. potentially much better, now), isn't my thing... but always good enough for cooking (don't cook with it if you wouldn't drink it!) -- which might lead you back to a stew or Coq au vin.